Stacking and nesting containers are commonly used for transportation and storage of food goods such as produce, baked goods. Such containers generally have a rectangular base with upstanding sidewalls extending from the base. Some stacking and nesting containers include support bars that are pivotably mounted at each end and extend across two opposed sidewalls. These support bars can be pivoted between a stacking support position and a nesting position.
When goods are placed in the container, the support bars are placed in the stacking support position. A second container can then be placed on the first container and is supported by the support bars, thereby protecting the contained goods from being crushed by the second container.
When the container is empty, the support bars are placed in the nesting position and a second container can be nested such that it is received in the first container, thereby reducing the stacking space required.
These container suffer from the disadvantage of having only two stacking positions. A second container can be stacked on a first container in a stacking position to protect goods container in the first container, or in a nested position when the first container is empty. These containers do not have any intermediate stacking position to save stacking space when smaller or fewer items are placed in the container.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a multi-level stacking container that can be stacked in more than two positions depending on the goods contained to safe stacking space in transportation or storage.